Not Afraid Anymore
by fanalisse
Summary: Shin confesses; Sena thinks he needs a bullet-proof vest. Shin/Sena. Please review! :D
1. Confession

It's my first time writing on , so please leave a review on how I could improve!

I don't own Eyeshield 21 :(.

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Sena shuffled his feet nervously, his face reddening as his hand brushed against Shin's. Only a few days ago, Shin had confessed to Sena. Sena's face reddened even more as he recalled the memory...

"_Kobayakawa Sena, please go out with me. I like you," Shin said solemnly, bowing to the red-faced Sena. Without waiting for an answer, Shin pressed a slip of paper into Sena's hand and jogged off wordlessly. _

"_Um... thanks..." Sena whispered to the air in front of him where Shin had been. _

Poor little Sena-chan was now on a train to downtown Tokyo, where he and Shin were planning to go for a day out. Sena sneaked a peek at Shin, and found that he was staring at him. The little brunette quickly turned away and looked at the space in front of him. It wasn't that Sena disliked Shin or anything. In fact, Shin would've been happy to know that Sena liked him very much. Sena was just too shy to say so out loud. The train rocked back and forth and Sena's leg brushed against Shin's. Sena immediately tensed up and blushed fiercely.

_I don't like him. I don't like him. It's okay, Sena, it's just a date. A date with a friend. Just a date. Just a date. Just a date..._

"Kobayakawa? We're here."

"AHH! Just a date!" The passengers around Sena gave him weird looks, and he laughed nervously. As he followed Shin to leave, he tripped on some old man's foot and lost his balance. Shin caught him casually and proceeded to get off the train while carrying Sena around like a sack of potatoes.

They were like that for some time until they reached a fair. Shin paid for admission, and an employee waved them in. All through the day they rode rides and had typical carnival junk food, and every time Sena and Shin had physical contact Sena would blush furiously.

At last, both had ridden all the rides that they wanted to go on, and they made their way to a train station.

"Ooh, spending some quality time with your brother, eh?" said a lady to Sena while she worked at the ticket booth. Sena nodded shyly. How would she react if he told her that they were out on a date?

Shin's warm body was beside Sena's on the train ride back, and Sena melted under Shin's steady stare. It was quite late now, and Sena started to nod off. He couldn't help but think of Shin's warm, reassuring arm that was poking rather uncomfortably into his rib cage, or the nice memory he had of Shin wiping ice cream off his cheek with his thumb...

_All right,_ Sena wearily decided, _so I do like Shin..._ And with that, he dozed off.

The next morning, he woke up in his bed feeling refreshed. He wasn't afraid to say it anymore. 'I LIKE SHIN' he wrote on his English notebook.

"I like Shin," Sena declared softly to Pitt, who was peacefully napping on his windowsill.

"I like Shin," he said again, a little louder. Sena wrenched open his window, scaring off Pitt as he did so. He stuck his head outside and yelled, "I LIKE SHIN SEIJUUROU AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO SAY IT!"

His neighbour who was working in his garden grumbled in response and some birds flew away from a nearby tree, but Sena had never felt more alive.


	2. Discovered By the Devil

**Edit: 12/28/09 As much as I'd like to record my progress as a writer, apart from chapter one, THIS STORY REALLY SUCKS. I can't delete 2, 3 and 4 because that would me feel that all the reviews I got for this weren't earned. -___- So, I re-read and edited a bit. it's not much, I just made a few minor changes and shortened the ending. **

A special thank you to Rae-Wolf-Demon for the wonderful tips! I have used the Hiruma- notepad idea! Thank you! :D

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Sena looked around the Deimon Devilbats locker room nervously, looking for Hiruma. This morning, he had just realized his feelings for Shin. Sena had been wrapped in a blanket of bliss for a whole eleven minutes before he remembered that he had early morning practice.

_Wonderful,_ he thought glumly. _Now I'm one minute and six seconds late._

In other words, he was dead meat.

Sena had approximately thirty- four minutes each day to get ready and set out for school. Because he wasted eleven minutes of his time, he was left with twenty- three minutes to get changed, clean himself up, eat breakfast, and run to school. Today, Sena had run at his highest speed all the way to Deimon, only stopping to rest when he had safely made it inside the locker room.

Sena tiptoed around the players who were changing noisily, shouting at each other because of the increasing volume around them, which caused the other players to talk louder, causing the other players to talk louder, causing…well, you get the point.

Sena had constructed a crummy plan while he dashed to Deimon. He would sneak into the locker room and pretend that he was with the other players all along. Perhaps then, he wouldn't have to face the wrath of Hiruma for being late...huh, Hiruma would probably notice anyway, but it was worth a shot.

Sena was doing pretty well and was about to make it to his locker when he felt a hand pat his back.

"AHH!" he yelped, nearly jumping out of his skin. Everyone stopped changing and turned to look at him. Sena's voice was quite high compared to the rest of the players; his high-pitched voice stood out like an orange in a basket of apples.

_Crap! Crap, crap, crap!_ Had Hiruma noticed? Sena tensed and turned around slowly, wishing with every ounce of his body that it wasn't Hiruma. It wasn't. The little boy's body very visibly relaxed.

"Sena? You okay? I was kind of wondering why you were tip-toeing around the room..." Monta's hand left his shoulder, and he pulled out a banana from his locker. Sena flushed. The room was still deadly silent.

"Oh...Monta-kun...um, it's nothing. I just went for a drink..." Sena put on his best I'm-completely-innocent look. Suddenly, Sena had a feeling that something bad was about to happen...

"Hey, fuckin' chibi, finally decided to show up, eh? Kekekekeke!" cackled an ominous voice belonging to a certain Mr. H.

_I knew it._ Sena mused gloomily, his eyes finding their way to the floor.

"Thought you could come late for practice and get away with it, hey?" Hiruma said, whipping out a semi-automatic rifle.

"U-um, no, Hiruma-san," Sena whispered. They could hear the soccer club finishing their practice in the far corner of the field.

"Get out, fucking people," Hiruma snarled at the rest of the Devilbats, who were frozen to the spot. "NOW!" he added, when no one made any signs of moving. They immediately scurried out of the change room, some still not properly dressed.

Hiruma whipped out a badly treated English notebook from thin air. How did he do that? It was a bit dirty and the back cover had a rip. Strange, why did that notebook look so familiar...?

"So," the demon said, "I'm just minding my own business and was about to push open the door to the change room when I saw this," here he paused, and waved the purple notebook in the air.

"I wonder, what could a notebook be doing just outside the door? So I pick it up, and the first thing I see are there words, written with red washable marker; 'I LIKE SHIN'. This is obviously your writing, fucking pipsqueak. Is that the reason why you were late? You've got a lot of explaining to do..."

_Ah, so _that's_ why it looked so familiar..._

_..._

Crap.

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Thank you to all the readers and reviewers! :)

-sniff-

Please, let me have a moment…


	3. Just a Gut Feeling

"Well? I'm still looking for an answer, fuckin' brat." Hiruma paced around the changing room twirling his rifle in the air.

"Um, well..." There was no point in lying to Hiruma. He'd figure him out, anyway. Sena took a deep breath and continued. "Exactly six days ago while I was jogging my usual route, Shin-san came up to me and said that he liked me. He gave me a train ticket to go to downtown Tokyo and that day he came by my house and picked me up. On the train ride there I tripped over a man's foot, and Shin carried me down a path to a fair like a sack of potatoes. We rode on several roller coasters and then there was this Ferris wheel, oh, there was a merry-go-round, too...wait, I'm getting off topic. Anyway, after we finished most of the rides, we agreed to go home and this lady thought that we were brothers. I fell asleep on the train ride there, and I think that it was Shin-san who brought me back to my house."

Sena concluded his long recount with a deep intake of breath.

"So..." Hiruma started, pointing his rifle right at Sena's face, "Do ya think 'Shin-san' is gonna make you late for practice all the time?"

"Um...I don't think so. We haven't talked since the _d-d-date_." Sena managed to force the last word out of his mouth before he lost the nerve to say it.

Hiruma smiled smugly.

"Good. I would prefer for it to stay that way." He leaned closer to Sena, his rifle still pointed at his face, and whispered in a slightly darker tone, "If he makes you late for _anything_ or distracts you _anytime_ while you are playing a game or training, I _swear_," here he paused for dramatic effect, "_all of Hell will break lose._ But don't worry, no pressure."

The demonic quarterback turned sharply on his heel and strolled out the change room door.

Sena sighed with relief.

"At least I'm still unscathed..."

Call it a gut feeling, but he had a hunch that he had spoken too soon...

...and he was right. Hiruma came barging in again a few seconds after he had just left with the Deimon team in tow.

"Kekeke, fucking pipsqueak, judging by your stance, you thought that I would let you off the hook, hey? Kekekekeke! How very wrong you were...we still have morning practice, you know..." Hiruma walked up to Sena, and brandished his semi-automatic rifle in his face. "Go do fifty laps around the field, then you can go to class."

"B-but, what if I can't finish in time?"

"Kekeke... I have my ways. I'll make sure that you aren't counted as late."

"Oh...okay..." Sena mumbled, not making any apparent signs of moving.

"Get to it, BRAT!" bellowed Hiruma.

"Eek!" Sena flinched and sprung into action. He pushed his way through his other team members who were staring at Hiruma and Sena, and bolted out the door. He felt several bullets disrupt the air around his legs and saw a few whizzing past his head. Sena twisted his head around to look at Hiruma and-

WHAM!

-ran straight into an apple tree. Some apples that were dangling right above him shook slightly with the impact and one fell accurately onto his crotch. Sena grunted with pain.

"Oooh, that's gotta hurt," commented Juumonji sympathetically. "At least it can't be worse."

Sena tried to get up, but failed and his leg bumped the tree slightly. That apples that were shaken before now all fell near Sena's crotch with a few muffled thumps.

"Oops, I stand corrected."

_Yup, always trust those gut feelings..._

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Ooh, I just reread it and it sounds like Hiru/Sena. Even though I didn't intend for it to sound like that, it is kind of suggestive...

And this is so much shorter than the other chapters. T_T Homework sucks.

**Edit: Ehh, these chapters weren't as bad as I thought they were. WHY IS MY OLD WRITING BETTER THAN MY NEW WRITING?! *sob sob***


	4. Not Afraid Anymore

Hope you like it! :D

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The first thing that Sena saw after he woke up was...a hunk of cheese?! He stared at it curiously until the person who was holding it in front of his nose realized that he had come to.

"Oops, sorry," said Kurita sheepishly, withdrawing the chunk of Limburger cheese from Sena's nose. _What is that _smell_?_ Sena thought, distressed at the unpleasant odour that was finding its way to his nostrils. He searched around the room with his eyes until he realized that it was coming from the cheese. Ever so slightly, he backed away and turned his head towards the side in an attempt to obstruct his nostrils. He watched in horror as Kurita crammed the giant chunk of cheese into his mouth and looked at him with concern.

"I thought that the Limburger cheese would wake you up, it's so smelly! Are you alright, Sena-kun? I heard that you were knocked out during practice! I just found out a few minutes ago, I had been outside practicing from two in the morning..."

Sena cringed and his mind started to wander. He took a good look at his surroundings. He was on a bed in a public hospital room along with some other patients. His mind refocused on Kurita's words, and now he noticed that there were fellow teammates and friends standing behind him.

Monta waited until there was a pause in Kurita's words, then cut in and said, "Hey, bud, you okay? That was a pretty bad fall you had there..."

"Kekeke, fucking brat, as soon as you get better, I'm gonna work you twice as hard, you'll wish that you were in Hell..."

"Oh, Sena! How could you be so reckless? You had me so worried there, I wish that I hadn't been in a discipline committee meeting! Maybe if I had been there, I could have stopped _Hiruma-kun_ from making you run..."

The voices all mixed in Sena's head, and he looked around wildly, trying to listen to all of them at once. He spent the rest of the morning listen to his friends chatter happily around him and he was content to just listen and nod at the appropriate times. Finally around noon everyone left and he finally had some time to himself. The first thing that came to his mind was Shin.

How was he? Did he know that he was in a hospital? Would he come and visit?

Thoughts of that nature raced around in his head until a doctor in a white coat carrying a clipboard strolled purposefully over to his bed.

"Hi," he smiled, gazing at Sena with warm brown eyes. "I'm a new doctor here. I was just an intern yesterday, so you're the first person who I've reported to...anyway, you suffered a few cuts and bruises from running into that tree, but nothing serious happened, so I think that you'd be happy to know that you'll be discharged shortly and we'll call someone to come pick you up..." he checked his clipboard, and his eyes widened with shock.

"No way! You're Kobayakawa Sena?!"

Sena nodded emotionlessly. The new doctor who was just an intern the day before beamed with importance. "Wow! It was nice meeting you! I hope you come again! No, wait, what am I saying?! This is a hospital! I hope you _don't_ come again, unless if you're hurt, of course..." the young man kept ranting to himself and strode away.

Sena was discharged soon after lunch, and his mom came to pick him up in her car. Sena plopped into the front seat, and after they had fastened their seat belts his mom drove away. All the way on the drive back home, she kept on fussing about him, asking if he needed anything and patting his head once in a while. Sena squirmed at all the attention, but he was glad that she cared.

As soon as they arrived back home, Mihae sent him straight to bed, saying that he could resume school tomorrow and that now he needed to rest. No one asked him about his incident when he crashed into the tree, or _where _he suffered injuries. Before he was tucked into bed, he told his mom that if a guy who looked like Bruce Lee appeared at their door, she should wake him up. His mom nodded and drew the curtains shut. After she had pecked him on the cheek, she left and closed the door.

At first Sena couldn't sleep; he kept on thinking of Shin. Pitt, who had been by his desk all the while, moseyed over to curl up beside his head and with his cat purring beside him, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

"Sena..._Sena_!" Sena moaned and turned over in his blankets.

"SENA!" someone bellowed into his ear, and he snapped awake. His mom was standing in front of him, and behind her was a boy in a blue tracksuit.

"You said to wake you if a guy who looked like Bruce Lee appeared at our door. Here he is! I'll go get dinner ready now, I hope he stays..." Mihae muttered to herself and strolled out the room, leaving Sena and Shin alone.

"So..." Shin started, advancing towards Sena, "I heard that you were hospitalized."

Sena nodded. Shin came and sat on the edge of his bed, and no one said anything for a while. Sena sneaked a peek at Shin's face. It was emotionless, of course. Now Sena voiced his fears.

"Um…Shin-san," he started meekly, "I have something to tell you…"

Shin nodded and fixed his eyes on Sena, waiting for his words. Sena squirmed under his look and continued.

"Uh…Hiruma-san kind of found out about our relationship,"

No response from Shin.

"He said that we can't continue to see each other and that, quote, 'If he makes you late for _anything_ or distracts you _anytime_ while you are playing a game or training, I _swear_, _all of Hell will break lose._' So, um, I don't think we should go out anymore…"

Shin kept on staring at him. Finally, after a moment of uncomfortable silence, he spoke.

"What do _you_ want?" he asked, still keeping his eyes on Sena's face. "If you don't like me as much as to face Hiruma, maybe we _should_ break up. You can tell me later. I'll wait as long as I have to for you to make up your mind." Shin leaned in and pecked Sena on the check. Sena jerked back, surprised. He felt his face grow hotter and hotter. Sena clapped his hand to where Shin had just kissed him and turned away bashfully. Seeing his reaction, Shin got up and marched out the door. A few minutes later Sena heard the front door close quietly.

Sena was still in a trance when his mom came up a few moments later and asked, "What did that boy come for?"

"Oh…just something for school. It's homework."

"Ahh," Mihae seemed to not have noticed Sena's flushed face, and if she did, didn't say anything about it. She fluffed Sena's pillow and hurried out the room. Sena leaned into his pillows and sighed.

He didn't want to admit it even in his mind, but Shin's kiss had left him wanting more.

--

The next day Sena was deemed well enough to go to school, and he got up eagerly. Maybe if he went to school, he might forget about Shin. The truth was, he _did_ like Shin enough to face Hiruma. He just wasn't sure he could sacrifice his manly pride to say so in front of his captain.

Unfortunately, going to school did not put his mind at ease. It made it worse. The classes were so boring that he couldn't help but to daydream about all the things that he could say.

_Shin-san, um, I _do_ like you. I _would_ go against Hiruma for you and…_No, that sounded a bit desperate.

_Shin-san, I love you very much and I hope you like me as well as I like you. Nothing can come between our love…_No way! _That was so cheesy!_

_Shin-san…_

"Kobayakawa, please translate page thirty one for us," Sena's English teacher commanded.

"Shin-san, I want us to be together and I don't care about...Hiruma..." Sena's voice trailed off as he realized that the whole class was staring at him.

"Kobayakawa!" the teacher scolded, her face flushed, "Please pay attention in class! Now, page thirty one on the story of Snow White! Translate!"

"Y-yes, ma'am! Um…this…this is a pen?"

--

After school was over, Sena was packing up beside his locker and was about to head to football practice when he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.

"Hnn? Yes?" he chirped, not bothering to turn around to talk to the person.

"Kobayakawa? I have come for my answer. "

Sena froze and slowly turned around. As he had expected, it was Shin.

_Come on, Sena! Say something! Anything! You planned out so many confessions! SAY ONE!_

"Oh, uh, Shin-san, I lo-"

Just then, Hiruma 'happened' to be walking around the corner when he spotted Shin talking to a flushed Sena.

"FUCKIN' BRAT AND FUCKIN' BRUCE LEE LOOK-ALIKE! Fuckin' brat! I already told you that I don't want fuckin' look-alike distracting you from American football!" Hiruma shrieked, whipping out an AK-47 and starting to shoot randomly.

Sena flushed and stood up, dropping his bag and all its contents.

"Lee- uh, I mean _Shin_- is _a football player! _And he's _not_ distracting me from American football!" he huffed, his hands balling into fists. " I know there's a practice today after school!"

Hiruma stopped shooting.

"When did 'Shin-san' change to 'Shin'?" he snarled, cocking his gun at Sena threateningly.

"Umm, no, actually, I just forgot the honorific now..."

"Ahh..."

There was a silent, awkward moment, then Hiruma reloaded and started shooting again.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR SO-CALLED 'LOVE', OR WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT YOU CALL IT, BUT IF YOUR PERFORMANCE LEVEL DROPS IN OUR GAMES, YOU'RE GOING _DOWN_, BRAT! KEKEKEKEKE!"

Suddenly, a broom handle came out of nowhere and hit Hiruma on the head.

"Oww, what the fuck...?"

"_Stop bullying Sena_!" Mamori shrilled, swinging at Hiruma again.

"Fucking manager! Where the hell did you come from?!" **(1)**

"Don't you _dare_ try to change the subject! I want you to stop bullying Sena _right now_..."

The shrill sound of Mamori's voice mixed with the gruff sound of Hiruma's moved farther and farther away as they chased each other around the school trying to kill each other.

Sena smiled warily at Shin.

"Um, is this the part where we kiss and the author ends the story?" Sena asked.

"Yes, I think so," Shin said after a moment of contemplation.

The two moved together simultaneously, oblivious of the stares they were receiving from fellow students who had paused to watch (a few girls were squealing with delight rapidly snapping pictures with their cell phones).

Even if they did notice, they wouldn't care because right now, nothing could break them apart.

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**End**

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**Edit: In one of the newer ES21 chapters, I think the translator mentioned that 'this is a pen' is a classic sentence in Japan when teachers first teach students English. I'll just borrow it here. I think it's pretty funny. Have you read that chapter? :D **

**(1) I was tempted to say, "Up your ass!", but no…that would ruin the flow…**

I don't know what Hiruma's nickname for Shin is, so I'll just call him 'fucking Bruce Lee look-alike'!

Hope you enjoyed this fanfic! Thank you for reading! ^^


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